Coaching Moves and Rumors

Knicks hire Jeff Hornacek. Surprise move as he was the one guy that never got mentioned in relation to NYK. I always liked Hornacek, thought he had one really great year in Phoenix (can't remember a squad that had so many Most Improved and Comeback candidates). The Suns experienced troubles after that but those troubles were zero percent Hornacek's fault, thought he handled himself as well as could be expected considering how badly the front office mangled things. Apparently Phil Jax was impressed with Hornacek's Jerry Sloan connection enough to give up his absurd triangle offense demands (dude, quit trying to make it a thing, it's not a thing, it's not coming back) and embrace some kind of two-guard scheme that Hornacek had back in the day with Bledsoe and Dragic (I just posted about NYK trading for Bledsoe, Dragic could be had too, no?). The Knicks will be active, they gots money for big splashy names. No way they get Durant, I can see them ending up with some combination of: Dwight Howard, Ryan Anderson, Mike Conley, Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, Nerlens Noel, Greg Monroe. With or without Carmelo.

Magic hire Frank Vogel. I like Vogel, I think he's a good coaching, I think the Magic got a nice bunch of kids for him to work with. There's no Paul George in there but Aaron Gordon seems ready to become a bright shining star. Oladipo and Payton are sure handed guards, Vucevic is a beastly inside presence, that's a nice nucleus to start with. Throw in picks #11 and #41 and they might even have some young depth to go with a free agent pickup or two. I haven't been impressed with the Magic front office lately but hiring Vogel is a good sign. I'm back on board on the Magic youth movement now that Vogel has arrived.

Rockets might hire Mike D'antoni. Perhaps I'm jumping the gun on this but I think its a good fit if only because Harden in a D'antoni offense should be fun to watch. The Rockets will be shedding a lot of players this summer (Dwight Howard seems pretty gone to me, I think Terrence Jones, Josh Smiff, Motiejunas are probably gone, Jason Terry and maybe Corey Brewer moving on. But no matter happens, I guarantee James Harden will be handling the ball like 60% of the time, D'antoni knows that going in so I'm sure he's got a plan. This might not happen but if the Rockets do hire D'antoni I'd be pretty cool with it, it instantly makes the Rockets more interesting to watch next year.

Barcelona interested in David Blatt. There are tales that Blatt was quick to trumpet his European and International accomplishments when chided about being the new guy in the NBA, as if he'd been places and done stuff. I'm assuming, then, that Blatt knows better than anybody that Barcelona is a really good gig and if they want him, he should go. After getting unceremoniously dumped by Lebron just a coupla months ago (seems like ages since Blatt's been around), one can imagine that he has something to prove, that he really wants to coach in the NBA and be good at it. But what's he gonna do with the mash unit that is the Memphis Grizzlies? And if Lebron didn't love him, how's he gonna do in Houston with James Harden (I'm guessing not good)? Those are the last two NBA gigs left, so unless he wants to sit on Popovich's bench or Luke Walton's, I don't really see anything sexier than Barcelona within his grasp. He should go to Europe, live in a beautiful city, be the big dog, win a few more titles, the NBA will still be around--dude, Brooklyn will always be there as a reliably mediocre team with an overanxious trigger happy front office, there's always a chance in the NBA!